Flow of Life

I’m currently reading Richard Carlson’s book titled, ” You Can Be Happy No Matter What.” The principles are sound. Richard Carlson mentioned the nature of thoughts and moods. And he explained that being in the present moment would make one more happy.

Carlson mentioned that thoughts from the past are just that– thoughts. And we unnecessarily make ourselves unhappy by clinging to our thoughts. Thoughts are just transitory, the same way moods are transitory. Clinging to something impermanent would make one unhappy and dissatisfied with life.

Richard Carlson said that one’s natural psychological state is that of happiness and contentment. But since we allow ourselves to be carried away by our thoughts and our moods, we lose our natural state of happiness.

His observations are reminiscent of Buddhist teachings. It’s just so amazing how advanced Gotama Buddha’s thinking was. He was able to get into the nature of consciousness and of thoughts. So many have followed his path and have attained enlightenment.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that one should become a Buddhist in order to be happy. Richard Carlson was able to come up with ways in order to cope with the daily stresses of life. There are other paths. Buddhism is just one of the many spiritual paths one should take in order to gain that inner sense of calm and equilibrium. But what I like about the Buddhist path is how it goes straight to the core– that of the nature of suffering and unhappiness.

I really am grateful that I became a Buddhist. It has made me understand myself more. In time, my consciousness and awareness would grow. And someday soon, I would be a lot less self-centered and more altruistic. I would really like that. Once you understand yourself, you can understand others better.

I’m just going through what some would call ‘growing pains.’ It hasn’t been easy shedding my self-limiting beliefs and letting go of the person that I used to be. But in just a year, I was able to turn my life around. I never would have thought that I’d be a more positive and grounded person. I used to be a self-defeatist and a pessimist. I was always reactive and not proactive. I see so many changes in myself. The changes have been profound. You can see it on the way I move and think. And even on my face. I’m just a much lighter person.

When I used to be a Catholic, I remember hearing this sermon. The priest was talking about the idea of going to heaven and dying. He said, ” Most of you think that you can take your personal belongings with you when you die. You can’t take anything with you, not even a backpack. Before you enter heaven, you have to leave everything behind. You must unload yourself from your burdens. When a person dies, he leaves with nothing.”

Buddhists and Catholics both believe in the concept of heaven. The only difference is that Catholics believe that heaven is a place where one goes after one dies. But Buddhists believe that heaven is a state of mind that can be achieved during this lifetime. I would rather go with the Buddhists’ perspective. Because I want to be able to unload my burdens and carry less emotional baggage while I can still appreciate it. And who cares about the afterlife?

I feel less lighter already. And I feel less afraid of the future. I feel less attached to my past. What I need to work on is living in the present moment. For what do we really have that no one can really take away? We only have the present moment. We only have the NOW.

I’ve let thirty years of my life slip by because I allowed myself to be unhappy. I tortured myself with negative thoughts. I allowed my self-esteem to sink because I felt unworthy. All those wasted years. All those wasted hours.

Before I die, I want to be able to say to myself that I was victorious and that I lived a full and happy existence. I want to be able to congratulate myself for being an expert in life. For knowing how to navigate life’s ups and downs; turns and twists.

It’s really so insane how we spend so much of our time suffering when we could spend it being happy. I choose to be happy. And what I like about living in the present moment is that even if you make mistakes, you continue to move forward. And you allow yourself to go with the flow of life.